Mariners, Seahawks, Canucks: Seattle Times readers sound off

Seahawks

Having faith in this
team’s pair of aces

How does a team possibly recover from losing two defensive ends, two defensive backs, two receivers and an offensive tackle, all capable of starting, along with several backup players?

That team, of course, is the Seahawks, and the answer to the question is that they have coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider, who always seem to have tricks up their sleeves.

Let’s just hope that this time around those sleeves came in extra large.

— Raymond S. Wilson, Bellevue

Mariners

Stone took liberties

with Almonte parallels

A thoroughly entertaining and informative Larry Stone article (“Gaffes and Gems, but Watch M’s Almonte,” Friday) contained an unfair and inaccurate statement. Stone’s premise is that part of the Abraham Almonte package is putting up with youthful over-exuberance at the same time that the team benefits from his energy. While making this point, Stone states, “The Dodgers are going through something similar with Yasiel Puig.”

Puig is the ultimate embodiment of unlimited talent attached to a hopelessly immature mind. He disdains coaching, feels he knows better than anyone how he should be playing, is petulant and self-indulgent, and lives a too-fast life-style which seems destined to erode and waste his abilities. In contrast, I have not come across one negative comment concerning any aspect of Almonte’s character.

This guy has much to learn but is a refreshing addition to a team made up of mostly by-the-book players. He makes mistakes but brings flashes of brilliance in his attempts to push the envelope. He forces the other team to execute.

Drawing comparisons between these two dissimilar personality types is a case of a writer taking too many liberties in an attempt to build a thesis.

— Tom Likai, Shoreline

Canucks

Canucks misfired by
hiring abrasive coach

Vancouver lost the Stanley Cup. Now they have lost the team, reputation, and Canucks fans.

The team has hired the most abrasive coach in the NHL with the intent to take the team to a new level. We fans didn’t realize that this meant a lower level. For years the team has already been an exciting Stanley Cup contender and a top Presidents’ Trophy winner.
Good luck to Alain Vigneault and the New York Rangers in the playoffs. The has already proved his worth and kicked Canuck butt this season.

Our hockey region deserves better. We broke a winning franchise.

— Jay Gould, Duvall

Men’s Final Four

Making foul shots
key to UConn’s victory

College athletics

Don’t minimize
value of college

The class-envy, money-redistribution approach to life seems to being pushed by liberals into college sports. Like when discussing a $15-per-hour minimum wage, there is rarely any mention of performance-based pay.

In the case of college athletes, the cost of tuition, books, and room and board are either ignored or put down as insignificant. In fact, many of these athletes would never make it into college without these scholarships. What is a college education worth? How many non-athletes spend a large part of their working careers paying off these college costs.

If money is the issue, let these athletes bypass college and go directly into pro-sports.

— Dick Applestone, Bellevue

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Want to be a reader contributor to The Seattle Times’ Take 2 blog? Email your original, previously unpublished work or proposal to Sports Editor Don Shelton at dshelton@seattletimes.com or sports@seattletimes.com. Not all submissions can be published. The Times reserves the right to edit and publish any submissions online and/or in print.

Have something to say?

Want to be a reader contributor to The Seattle Times’ Take 2 blog? Email your original, previously unpublished work or proposal to Sports Editor Don Shelton at dshelton@seattletimes.com or sports@seattletimes.com. Not all submissions can be published. The Times reserves the right to edit and publish any submissions online and/or in print.